Fleur East has revealed that training for Strictly Come Dancing is ‘getting to her’ and ‘hitting her hard’ following a ‘tough’ dance-off.
The X Factor star found herself in the bottom two on Sunday night and up against Richie Anderson and pro dancer Giovanni Pernice.
Ultimately, Fleur, dressed as Ariel from The Little Mermaid, was chosen to stay in the contest by three of the four judges and Richie and Gio were eliminated.
Fleur East says Strictly training is getting to her
And now, the 34-year-old has opened up about hitting a wall with her rehearsals for the popular BBC dancing show.
Speaking on Hits Radio Breakfast Show, she said: “I’m not going to lie to you this morning, training is getting to me.
“Man, I am feeling it! Feeling it in my body, feeling it in my mind – everything is going through it. I’m aching, I feel tired. It’s hitting me hard.”
The singer-songwriter also revealed that she and pro Vito Coppola are dancing the Argentine Tango on Saturday night, to Ciara’s version of Paint it Black from the soundtrack of The Last Witch Hunter.
“It’s very dark, very moody and I’m excited to challenge myself and do something different,” Fleur added.
Fleur ended up in the bottom two
During Movie Week, Fleur and Vito performed a Little Mermaid-inspired American Smooth to Part of Your World.
Their routine received a score of 29 from the judges.
But despite not being at the bottom of the leaderboard, Fleur found herself in the dance-off after the public vote – much to her shock.
On It Takes Two earlier this week (October 11), Fleur spoke to host Rylan Clark about being in the dreaded dance-off.
Fleur said it was ‘rough’ dancing for a second time
The singer-songwriter said: “Oh man it was rough being in that dance-off, it was awful. One because, you realise ‘oh my gosh I’ve got to dance again with all those lifts.'”
“Secondly, I love Richie, I get on with Richie so well he’s such a joy and I hated having to dance against him,” Fleur added.
However, despite feeling ‘awful’ about having to dance a second time, Fleur did say she was “grateful” to have been in a dance-off.
“In a lot of ways, I’m actually grateful that we had that experience because it’s made me realise how much I want to be here,” Fleur said.
Strictly fans ‘not happy’ with Shirley
It comes as Strictly 2022 viewers have issued a plea to the BBC over Shirley Ballas’ behaviour at the weekend.
Shirley has faced backlash from fans this week after the results show on Sunday (October 9).
Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse all chose to save Fleur and Vito.
However, after the result was confirmed, Shirley revealed that she would have voted the other way.
Numerous viewers rushed to social media to slam the judge.
Fans say Shirley Ballas should be ‘sacked’
“Shirley would have saved Richie?! She really is just a silly, jealous woman. BBC really need to just sack her at the end of this series. She spoils this show so much #Strictly,” tweeted one angry viewer.
“Shirley needs the sack though #Strictly,” added another.
On Loose Women today (October 12), Shirley hit back at the criticism.
She said: “I appreciate the audience has been there for 20 years, but when you watch a screen you can only see half of what I see, I can see the feet and it all.
Read more: Strictly star Fleur East felt “frustration and shame” after landing in the dance-off, says expert
Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One, Saturday October 15 from 6:30pm.
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